Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Sells 10,308 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA reduced its Apple stake by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,308 shares and ending with 535,089 shares valued at about $145.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Apple remains broadly positive, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $310.31; several firms recently raised targets, including TD Cowen and Tigress Financial.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26.

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535,089 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,308 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 9.1% of Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA's holdings in Apple were worth $145,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.31.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying Apple is well positioned to benefit from the emerging “agentic AI” smartphone market and could unlock substantial new revenue from a redesigned Siri and AI features. Apple seen as key beneficiary of emerging agentic AI smartphone market, BofA says
• Positive Sentiment: Other Wall Street coverage echoed that view, with reports saying Apple is hitting all-time highs as investors expect a deeper AI push at WWDC, which could improve sentiment and support further upside. Apple stock hits all-time high as analysts see AI-driven breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also highlighted strong underlying fundamentals, including record Services revenue and continued strength in iPhone sales, reinforcing the long-term growth case for Apple. Strong Content & Advertising Aids Apple's Services: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple and Google are pushing back against Canada’s proposed police data-access bill, a regulatory issue that could affect the company’s privacy stance but is not an immediate earnings driver. Apple, Google Blast Canada’s Plan to Expand Police Data Powers
• Negative Sentiment: One potential headwind came from an article noting iPhone 17e sales in Japan have slowed versus its predecessor, which could raise questions about demand in some markets. The Real Reason The iPhone 17e Is Falling Behind Its Predecessor In Japan

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $308.33 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $195.07 and a one year high of $311.82. The company's 50 day moving average price is $271.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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